


True

by Phanch1401



Series: Archie! Sonadow AU [3]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comic), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Culture Shock, Denial of Feelings, Falling In Love, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Pre-Sonadow, Self-Discovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:26:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21656473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phanch1401/pseuds/Phanch1401
Summary: Shadow discovers that he's in love with his rival after the incident with the Metal Sonic Troopers and feels conflicted about it as he thinks back on what Maria told him about love fifty years ago.
Relationships: Shadow the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog
Series: Archie! Sonadow AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1548079
Comments: 5
Kudos: 62





	True

**Author's Note:**

> I'm pretty happy that this seems a lot better than the last one I written. 
> 
> Fanfic title is named after True by Spandau Ballet.
> 
> P.S. I'm sure all of you have noticed but for some reason AO3 is being a troll at the moment and the order for this series is messed up. If you want to look at the other works for this AU, just click 'Archie! Sonadow AU' and ignore 'Next/Previous Work'.

_“Hey Faker!”_

_Shadow turned his attention towards his blue rival, “…”_

_“Don’t be a stranger!”_

* * *

There was that strange warm feeling again. That feeling where his heart starts pumping more blood than needed, his body but mostly his chest feels hot and warm but not uncomfortable like when you sweat during the summer. And not to leave out his now pink muzzle and a strange emotion of…happiness when he thinks back to the blue hedgehog’s goodbye.

For a while; before the Metal Sonic Troopers attacked Knothole City and almost murdered Hope. Shadow’s been feeling this warm feeling his chest which grew to a good amount that night when he found his rival moping over his break up with the princess and giving him comfort and advice to the best of his ability, despite the fact he had no experience in this type of relationship. Now that Sonic had given him a friendly goodbye and…that captivating smile, the warmth suddenly increased, making his heart pump faster and him feeling pleasantly hot in the chest and face.

‘W-What is this feeling?’ the black hedgehog thought as he brought a hand up to his chest, clutching his chest fur in a tight grip. When he thinks back on that blue hedgehog’s farewell; this warmth and this strange new feeling which seems to join alliances, courses through him like a burning fire that’s difficult to put out. Despite the known fact that he’s been feeling the warmth in his chest for months when his mind turns to the subject of his counterpart; this new feeling, this hot burning sensation that seem to only light the warmth of his chest into a blazing inferno, was something he never felt before.

‘Where or when have I heard of this strange feeling before?’ Shadow thought again, still keeping a hand on his chest. Even though this strange feeling was foreign to the Ultimate Lifeform, he knew he heard of this before but when? As this thought went through his mind, a memory from fifty years ago, played in his mind like a projected movie in a cinema.

* * *

_“Maria, may I ask you a question?” asked a three-month-old Shadow, looking out towards the blue planet with his older sister figure from the ARK’S observatory window._

_The twelve-year-old girl turned away from the window, so she could face her little brother figure._

_“Of course, Shadow. What is it?”_

_The black hedgehog began to speak, trying to remember what he saw earlier, “Earlier today I overheard and saw Doctor Stephen and Doctor Barbara doing something which perked my interest. Doctor Stephen was down on one knee and holding a small black box as he asked her to ‘marry’ him. Then Doctor Barbara started crying loudly, even though she was smiling and kept saying yes, over and over again.” Shadow paused a little, as he thought of that foreign word: marry. “Maria, what does marry mean and why did Doctor Barbara cried despite being happy?”_

_Maria couldn’t believe the news she was hearing from the little hedgehog. Doctor Stephen and Doctor Barbara are getting married? How exciting! She then briefly wondering if they told her grandfather the news before remembering what was important first._

_“Marry means that you want to join in marriage with someone Shadow. It when two people such as a male and female come to together in a union so they can become husband and wife.” Maria explained to the best of her ability._

_“Marriage…” Shadow spoke that word softly to test it before asking another question, looking extremely curious._

_“Then, Maria. Why do they want to do this marriage union together?”_

_The NIDS girl thought that curious look on her best friend’s face was just pure adorable. “It’s because they love each other and wanted to be together for the rest of their lives.”_

_Hearing that other word, made his interest perked up again, “Love? What’s that, Maria?”_

_Maria brushed away some of her hair that was covering part of her face, “Well Shadow, love is a kind of emotion you feel for someone else. The most common types of love are Familial love or family love, platonic love and romantic love. The two of us share a familial and platonic love for each other and Doctor Stephen and Doctor Barbara both have romantic love.” She couldn’t help herself but sigh dreamily. Besides learning about machinery and helping others; she was also quite fond of romance and enjoyed watching a variety of soap operas as well._

_Wow. So many different types of love. Shadow felt awe and somewhat amused at Maria’s expression, since it was the same one she always had on her face when the two watch those terrible soap operas. Another curious thought then entered his mind. How do you know you feel romantic love for another?_

_“How do you know that you’re romantically in love with another, Maria?” the black hedgehog asked._

_Like his cute curious expression, the young prodigy also found his curiosity in romance and love; to be just pure adorable. She then got down on her knees so that the two are now at the same height._

_“When you feel a strong pull towards someone and your chest feels warm, are signs that you like someone or attracted to them.” She then gently placed a finger on his chest where his heart is located, “But if you feel love towards them, the warmth in your chest gets hotter like a flame, you can’t stop blushing every time you think of them and you feel like you have a need to be there for them and stay by their side, is usually the signs you feel when you’re in love.”_

_Shadow placed a hand over his chest after Maria brought her finger away from him and stood back up to her regular height. Who would’ve thought love was such a complicated subject for him. Did he feel that way towards Maria? He listed off all the signs Maria just told him; No. He wasn’t. While he did feel a need to stay by her side forever, he didn’t feel a warmth in his chest or blushed whenever he thought about her, so no. It wasn’t romantic love; it was probably platonic or familial love like what she said earlier._

_Maria then spoke up again, “So think of love like what we’ve seen in those soap operas we watched together Shadow; Happy, sweet, romantic and beautiful.”_

_Upon hearing what his big sister figure stated, the black experiment wasn’t sure if he should groan in exasperation or snort in hysteria. If there was one thing he doesn’t have in common with Maria; was their contrasting thoughts on soap operas. While the professor’s granddaughter seems to find them romantic, well-written and adorable to the point she actually ends up crying a few times while watching it; the black hedgehog thought the soap operas was extremely cheesy, weird and there’ve been countless times he had the urge, to literally go and wash his eyes out with bleach and sanitizer. The whole story for any of the episodes in the soap operas seem very silly and overused where the male protagonist has to go save the girl and that kind of stuff. Plus, not to mention the two characters practically lock lips in every second of the soap opera. But at the same time, the black hedgehog could also admit that even though it’s so terrible, it’s kind of funny. Shadow then briefly imagined Doctor Barbara and Doctor Stephen being characters of a soap opera and to make things short; he wasn’t sure if he should laugh or scrub his eyes clean._

_Another question then entered his mind. ‘If a male and female can both have romantic love and do this marriage union together, can two people of the same gender do it as well?’ he thought, feeling curious again like before. The black hedgehog never heard anything about two people of the same gender doing stuff like this and Maria didn’t say anything about this before too. Well, it shouldn’t hurt to ask, right?_

_“What people of the same gender? Can they also get married and share romantic love?” he asked innocently._

_Maria snapped out of her romantic daze, the moment she heard Shadow’s question feeling incredibly surprised. Nothing like this was ever asked before and while she isn’t extremely close-minded like most of the adults on the ARK, it was a topic that felt rather foreign to her. Sure, she does enjoy romance between a couple; both fiction and reality, but the idea of two people of the same gender having that kind of love, also seemed strange to her and as for marriage…well, it’s illegal. But that wasn’t to stop her from doing the best of her ability to answer the black hedgehog’s question about this strange topic._

_“Shadow, this is a really difficult thing for me to answer but, love between two people of the same gender and marriage is actually illegal...”_

* * *

As the memory faded away from his mind, Shadow kept his hand on his chest as he started to list off the signs Maria told him fifty years ago, about this particular emotion. Let’s see; warm feeling in his chest has gotten hotter, check. He can’t stop blushing whenever he thinks of his rival, check. Does he feel the need to stay by his side and make him happy? Yes, he does, despite feeling like punching Sonic’s face in most of the time. His muzzle turned from pink to bright red. Off all the people on Mobius, it had to be him. His arch rival and counterpart out of every single person on this planet! A GUN soldier, like one of the members from that Paladin unit would’ve been more merciful. Which is really saying something if you put in account what happened to him, fifty years ago too.

The black hedgehog could only groan in annoyance, but mostly embarrassment. Why did this happen to him? Is it also true he’s attracted towards the blue idiot as well? What’s the point of even asking? It’s obvious as sky above him; he’s felt this warm magnetic pull towards him since the day they met!

But how did this so-called love; even started if he felt attracted to the blue hedgehog since the beginning? Letting a sigh past his lips, his arms dropped down to the sides of his body as he turned his head up to look at the sky, thinking.

Well, he supposed that this all happened the night, he learnt Sonic was alive and immediately rushed off to his home, Knothole City to learn if it was true and found himself situated in the trees close to the stage, where he watched Sally asking the blue hedgehog to stay with her, him reluctantly saying no, the princess slapping him hard and calling him selfish (he still feels that dark feeling whenever thinks back to it.), their huge argument in front of everyone, Sally bursting into tears and running off with Sonic doing the same when he realised everyone had all their eyes on him. Then before what the black hedgehog was doing; he found himself going after his rival deep into the forest trying to look for the blue hedgehog. The moment he found his rival in that clearing, his original plan to hide his care for him to the best of his ability, until Sonic saw right through him, giving Shadow no choice but to reluctantly throw away the façade. Seeing the fragile emotional state his rival was in, the black hedgehog began to try to comfort him and give him advice in almost the same way how Maria answered his questions to the best of her ability.

Upon remembering his action of trying to actually comfort the blue hedgehog and the words he said, hit the blushing hedgehog like the ARK suddenly fell from the sky and crash-landed on him, as realisation and horrified embarrassment took over his flustered emotions. He practically told his rival to go and hook up with **him!** How could he not have realised sooner, over what he just said that night?

Someone who utterly understands him. Someone who is willing to let him fight the doctor and be with them at the same time. Someone who is willing to give him space and not treat him as some kind of idol of worship or an object. And…someone who is able to keep up with him in speed…

How in the name of Gerald Robotnik’s mother could the black hedgehog deny it? Everything he said and listed, he himself seems to fit the description of his ideal lover for Sonic perfectly!

Feeling even more ashamed at himself, the Ultimate Lifeform covered his face with his hands again, ‘Am I really in love with that blue faker?’ he thought, still unable to pull his hands away from his face, as if trying to hide it from the whole world to see.

The Ultimate Lifeform started to wonder about the actions he did with the blue hedgehog in the past; if he wasn’t in love with him, would he have tried to comfort Sonic that night to the best of his ability? Would he have helped him stop that ancient missile and helped him get to safety, despite the fact they fought each other at first? And…would he have rescued the blue hedgehog when was about to be overrun by the Metal Sonic Troopers earlier today, despite having the intention to kill him if Hope had died? It was noticeably clear to him, that the answer for the black hedgehog is possibly a no.

There is no way he can deny it any longer. He truly is in love with Sonic the Hedgehog. His rival and the Hero of Mobius.

Feeling utterly drained, Shadow started walking away in a terribly slow pace. Would Sonic even want to be with him? Is Sonic possibly what he had heard from other people during his wandering over the past year; gay or bisexual? Does he want to be in the kind of relationship that the blue hedgehog, used to share with the Acorn Princess? Does he…want to kiss him like in those soap operas? He began blushing again as he imagined himself kissing Sonic the same way those actors did in those cheesy shows. Yes, it seems like he really does want that to happen; since his chest is on fire again. Maybe Sonic would be pretty open to the idea of having a romantic love with him. Maybe the blue hedgehog would even leave his home and help him discover his true purpose in life. Maybe the two could even-

The black hedgehog’s imagination went to a dead halt, the moment he remembered what Maria told him about this, despite being very hesitant over telling him. Illegal. She told him it was illegal to feel love towards another male, it was illegal to marry another male, it was illegal to kiss them and what’s after that even. By the time he started to grow up and become more mature during his time on the ARK, he realised why Maria only stopped at it being illegal. To everyone else on the ARK and possibly down on Mobius; it was considered shameful, disgusting, unnatural and an abomination who has no right to even breath the same air as everyone else. And if you were found out doing any of that kind of stuff; you’d pretty much earned a one-way ticket to an early funeral.

Shadow looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown as his mind started spinning like a cyclone going at super speed. ‘This is wrong. All of this is utterly wrong! I’m supposed to be the Ultimate Lifeform, a being who is meant to be perfection and flawless but I’m not! I can’t feel these things for him! It’s disgusting, I-It’s… no, I’m shameful… because of this…’

He buried his face into his hands again, as the painful thoughts weighted down on him and the painful empty feel started to form again in his chest, feeling like it was eating him from the inside. But before he could start to possibly shred any tears, he suddenly remembered another important thing, which made him slightly lift his head from his hands.

That was all fifty years ago, not today! Everyone living on this planet, may possibly have different thoughts and opinions over this kind of subject and seeing how much he has seen last year, as he travelled around the planet looking for his purpose; he noticed how much change there has been, in technology, culture and even other people’s ideas on many other subjects besides love that’s considered normal, whether they were young or old. Could that mean…love isn’t as black and white anymore? Does it also mean he could love and have a relationship with Sonic and no one would try to condemn him and locked him away like fifty years ago? He does not know.

The black hedgehog brought his hands away from his face, now feeling very conflicted over this particular subject. He no longer knew if feeling love for another person with the same gender, is accepted or not. Everything has changed so much ever since he was locked away in that hellhole for half a century, nothing looks familiar to him anymore. Shadow began to wonder on who he could talk to about this kind of subject; the doctor? No, definitely not. Snively? Obviously not and who would even be attracted to him anyway? Sonic? Absolutely not! It’ll be way too embarrassing and awkward for the two of them, now that he realised he’s in love with him.

Shadow sighs to himself again. Looks like he’s on his own with figuring this out, just like he’s also trying to find his purpose in life. With that melancholic thought in mind, the black hedgehog continued making his way to Eggman’s Base, with the intention of figuring things out the moment he’s inside. As he kept walking, not really having the will to run because of the life-changing event that just happened to him; the black hedgehog started to blush again as he thinks about the blue hedgehog again and the possible relationship between them in the future. Just nothing but dreams and wishful thinking.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave your thoughts in the comments down below and if you have any questions concerning this AU, visit this site and I'll be more than happy to answer any of your questions: https://birds-feather.tumblr.com/


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